


well, i already love you

by stjimmys



Series: sp7 [1]
Category: Sugar Pine 7 RPF
Genre: Fake Blood, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, also this isnt fake pine 7 this is literally the like. show that sp7 has, the implication that the woods film was made by the characters that the ppl of sp7 portrayed, well not implied. its just how i wrote it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-05-17
Packaged: 2019-05-08 09:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14691543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stjimmys/pseuds/stjimmys
Summary: steven shut his eyes for a moment and pushed the gun down onto the table, opening his eyelids back up as it clattered against the wood. out of the corner of his eye, steven saw james flinch. again, not a good sign.





	well, i already love you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [my pal lucas](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=my+pal+lucas).



> i prompted this myself bc of what james said in the newest sp7 podcast the “white people are afraid to not like This Is America.” bc of that 36 question thing jamie brought up. also ive never written sp7 stuff before. also bouncing off of what jamie said, “you’re blushing.” also u can get the same experience i got while writing this bc i listened to lauv’s “i like me better” on repeat. its a good beat and i personally think it fits steven and james a bit. also sorry i wrote cib as being an asshole but that was the only way i could think of writing the whole Hurt part of this fic. anyways Enjoy

the move was stressful.

steven knew that, but it didn’t change the fact that the stress was worst of all for james. james, who was currently donning his very old beanie. never a good thing to see. 

steven lifted their streamy up and out of a box, blinking a few times at it before settling it down on the table. james was a few meters away, on the floor in front of a chair flipped on its side. he was taking an allen wrench to the screwhead, trying to tighten the bolt as best he could so it wasn’t wobbly. he had taken off his flannel and tied it around his waist, the tank top he wore clearly showing how tense his muscles were, making steven look at him for a moment before getting back to the task at hand. as he reached into the box, he pulled out one of the few prop guns they owned. he held it in his grasp for a moment, thinking back to the most recent project they had worked on that involved this. 

the woods.

steven shut his eyes for a moment and pushed the gun down onto the table, opening his eyelids back up as it clattered against the wood. out of the corner of his eye, steven saw james flinch. again, not a good sign.

he turned slightly and looked around the room. the old funhaus office would provide them more space and a functional, quick-to-get-to bathroom. strewn around along with the boxes was a bit of their merch, haphazardly thrown along the floor from spilling off one of the tables. there had always been plans for the woods merch, but it generally got knocked down after the sugar pine 7 hoodie and water warrior tee were brought into light. those were selling, definitely well. he peered over at james again, who was going right back to the allen wrench business despite being near panic-ridden a moment before. 

that was when it almost got too bad.

cib, somehow, had gotten ahold of the rest of whatever fake blood they had acquired through the gross scenes of the woods, which was terrible as it is. he was bubbling at his mouth and running towards james, who heard the loud crash and flinched harder but didn’t look up. 

“j-jaaaamesssss...j-james…” cib stumbled over a few unsorted boxes of random shit from the last office, tripping and falling a foot or so away from james, his head scooting slightly towards james’ knees. “j-j-james, buddy, pal, ya gotta h-help meeeeeeeee!”

steven watched in shock as james dropped wrench and let out a scream, a real one, full of fear and then went immediately to panic, grabbing cib and trying to figure out what was wrong with him. “shit, cib, shit, cib-cib!” his eyes were wide, the beanie long gone as james continued to spiral. 

it was terrifying. 

cib was the first to realize that james didn’t see a joke when it stared him directly in the eyes. “hey, james! jamesy boy, relax,” cib coughed and sat up, moving away slightly from james’ hands, grasping at his friends. “james, it was a prank, man, chill.” he looked over at steven and tilted his head slightly, wondering if steven had seen it too. he looked back at james and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, smearing it across his arm. 

without a word, james grasped his beanie and jumped up from where he was kneeling, and headed towards the door. he grabbed his vape on the way out the door, and it slammed shut. it felt like it shook the walls. it may as well have.

steven had his arms crossed, the whole time watching james stand and leave. now his eyes were on the shut door, wondering exactly just happened. he squinted his eyes and looked down at cib. without so much as a glance, he uncrossed his arms and walked towards the door as well, pulling his vape out from his pocket. as he walked past cib he felt him grasp his ankle slightly. “you know, i shouldn’t be the one doing this, but, knowing how you handle most situations, you’ll just make it a bit worse than it already is,” he moved his leg and continued towards the door. “i’ve got to talk to him. wash that bloody shit off and don’t do it again.”

“it was just a prank, dude! a simple and easy prank,” cib began. “it wasn’t supposed to be serious-” 

“well, you think james didn’t take it seriously?” steven turned, his hand already on the doorknob. “you can’t be doing random bits all the time, cib. god, dammit…” he turned back around and was already out the door, letting it shut behind him as cib sat on the floor, just as confused as he was before.

it was easy to figure out where james had gone. not only had steven had him on Find Friends, but the vape clouds leaving the building were a classic trail. pushing the front doors open, there sat james on one of the bottom steps. he was staring down at his phone in the setting sun, beanie back on his head. still not a good sign.

steven took the steps all the way to the bottom until he was at a near same position as james and then sat down, leaving about a foot or so of space between themselves. 

“steve, you didn’t have to come out here,” james began almost instantly, lifting his vape to his lips and sucking in until he had his full. his voice after was slightly changed in pitch but got normal as he continued to speak. smoke billowed out of his lips as he spoke. “i just wanna be alone for, like, five fucking minutes, and not get asked why i react the way i do,” he sighed and put his phone down on the step, lifting both hands up to his face and rubbing slightly. the fake blood was beginning to dry and flake off of his skin. 

steven put an elbow on his knee and turned, looking at james as he spoke. “james-” he started, but got interrupted. 

“-just go back inside and keep working on the office, i’ll be right back, just give me a minute.” james cleared his throat and took another hit of his vape before picking up his phone again. “just go.”

steven gave james a look that got him no response, and instead reached over and shoved james slightly. “hey, james? i’m going to ask this as nicely as i can,” he paused, waiting for any acknowledgement. there was none. “alright, here goes. what the fuck was that.”

james turned, looking at steven directly this time. his eyes bounced around slightly, from stevens’ eyes, his mouth, his chin. “what was what?” he answered with another question. “there was nothing. that’s it.”

“now, you see, james, there was a thing that happened, in our office like, five minutes ago- and you’re completely ignoring me now aren’t you.” steven glared at james, clearly watching something behind stevens’ face. “you’re not even looking at me dude!”

“yeah i am,” james looked at stevens’ eyes for a second before going back to his mouth. “look, i’m not trying to, it’s not my fault, it’s just a thing i do, okay?” he cleared his throat and glanced down at his phone and then back at steven. he seemed nervous.

steven sighed and nudged james again, resting his hand against his shoulder. “what’s going on, man. you can tell me, you know that right? like, i’m not just your boss, james. i’m your friend too,” he swallowed and squeezed james’ shoulder slightly. “what happened just now?”

james kept his eyes firmly on stevens’ now, breathing slightly heavy through his nose. at some point, he had slipped his glasses off his face and they were on the stairs beside his vape and phone. the beanie was also off as well. opening his mouth, james nearly babbled for a second before closing his eyes and letting his head fall towards his chest. “steven, fuck, man,” he cleared his throat. he sounded like he had already been crying earlier. “i know they’re not real, but they feel too real, and what cib did just now, that’s fucked man,” he was almost shaking now, which immediately prompted steven to reach over and hold james with his hands, palms on either shoulder. “steve, i’m sorry man.”

“hey, hey, hey,” steven scooted as close as he was really able to and kept an arm around james’ shoulders. “you’re good, man. you didn’t actually do anything wrong, just. can you tell me why you reacted like that? cib, well,” steve sighed and squeezed james’ shoulder slightly. his other hand was being grasped by both of james’ fists. he pretended he didn’t notice. not like he cared, he was here for james, wasn’t he? “he shouldn’t have done that. he didn’t exactly apologize yet, but he will, but just. give me a clue here. what happened?”

james breaths were getting easier, slower and not as shallow. he coughed a few times, cleared his throat before looking up at steven. he sighed and closed his eyes. “it’s because of the woods. i’ve been getting. so many nightmares of cib just, spitting up blood, something happening while we’re doing a shoot someplace, just thinking about idyllwild makes this shit worse, man,” james lifted his head and looked at steve again. there were clear tear streaks running down his cheeks. he looked exhausted. but he also looked relieved. “the scene we did, for the woods? where cib died?” james waited until he saw steve nod in agreement. “when i first read that part in the script, the night of i had the worst fucking nightmare i’ve ever had in my life. it wasn’t even as bad when i had nightmares about telling you guys i wasn’t actually a water warrior and you would make fun of me for it. it was worse than that,” james took a deep breath and let it out, his body beginning to shake again. “except it wasn’t just cib, it was everybody, everybody choking on blood and calling out for me but i couldn’t move. i couldn’t reach for any of you, i just kept screaming for you guys and you all died and it was just too much, man, that scene was so much.”

steven had kept a straight face the entire time, listening and hearing james’ gasps for breath as he continued on with the story, how he’s been having nightmares ever since the screenings, ever since it went public on youtube, when it went public on the roosterteeth site, when people started noticing it. people telling him how real each scene felt, how his fear and pained crying felt real, like it was actually happening to him. “everybody saying it felt real just made it worse, didn’t it james?” steve asked in a pause of james’ words, letting him catch his breath.

the sun, by now, had set behind a neighboring building. steve could still see the tear tracks.

“yeah, it made it feel real,” james nodded, having now begun to pull his flannel from off his waist and pull his arms through the sleeves. “i didn’t say anything because it was good press, it was really nice to hear everybody say all these nice things about the movie, how good of an actor i was, how we all were. but it’s just so much to hear, to take in man.” james sniffled. he had shifted slightly now, resting his head against steve's’ shoulder. steve looked down at their hands for a moment. they were still intertwined slightly, and he smiled lightly. james continued. “it’s just. a lot to handle, do you know what i mean? it all felt so real. even now. i know you saw how i was reacting, your arms were crossed the entire time i was freaking out.”

“yeah, they were,” steve swallowed, breaking eye contact with their hands and looked back at james. “thank you. for telling me. it means something, james,” he straightened up a little bit where he was sat, picking up his vape and taking a hit. james did the same. their clouds of smoke tumbled out their lips and into the air around them. “you know you’re like, one of my best friends, right? and that i love you?”

james smirked and chuckled a little bit, leaning off of stevens’ shoulder and looking over at him. he kept eye contact. “well, that’s good because i already love you, dude,” he kept a straight face for a good second before grinning a lot, stifling another laugh. his cheeks were red.

steven smirked. “you’re blushing,” he said, taking another hit before beginning to stand. he reached a hand out and opened his mouth, letting the smoke pour out. “come on, bugs are going to start festering all over us since we’re sitting under the biggest light by the stairs.” 

james laughed again before grabbing his glasses and phone, vape in hand. he tucked the beanie in his back pocket and then reached up, grasping stevens’ hand so he could pull himself into a standing position. “you’re probably right, yeah,” james let go of steve's’ hand and began climbing the stairs by twos. steven followed, hitting the vape one more time before entering the building. the both reached the office door and stepped inside, seeing cib sitting alone on the couch. james stiffened for a moment, remembering that the fake blood was still chipping off his hands. he rubbed palms against the front of his pants, and continued walking inside. steven hit his vape again and walked past cib immediately, glancing at him and wondering if he would actually acknowledge the problem he had caused, and didn’t fix himself. at least he had the right idea to listen to steven and wash the blood off.

as if on cue, cib stood and looked to james. “hey, man, i’m really sorry, i didn’t mean it really, it was just a prank-” he began, but james just reached over and brought him into a hug. 

“just quit being a dumbass once in a while, alright man?” james sighed, pulling back and looking up at cib. “it’s alright. just don’t do it again, please.”

cib looked to steven for any hint of sarcasm, but he shook his head and cib took that as his answer. he nodded back at james and pulled him back into a hug. “love you, dude.”

james scrunched his face up slightly at the comment, but accepted the hug anyways. steven just smirked and reached over and into the box on the table. he glanced at the streamy again and smiled. james had already gotten back to his chair, beanie on the couch and was now donning a baseball cap instead. 

a good sign.


End file.
